Evidence of meeting #123 for Environment and Sustainable Development in the 44th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was fire.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
What was done well?
What were the operation's successes and what could be improved in the future?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
The best is always, first of all, preparation. If a fire were to come, how do you prepare for it? In this case here, we were told by the experts on the ground that the fire itself was so enormous that there was nothing that could have been done at that time. Climate change and the extreme winds that they've never seen before had that impact.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
The only thing that you can do is ask yourself whether you have a good evacuation plan and whether you have the right preparation in place. All of those things were being done. What needs to be done is to ask what they would do as new preparation if they had to face wind patterns that were different.
Bloc
Monique Pauzé Bloc Repentigny, QC
Basically, if we wanted to, we could copy your preparedness measures and paste them in other parts of Canada.
Is that right?
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I would say that one area can learn from another, but you can't copy and paste, because each area is going to be very different. For example, the fire that took place in Enterprise, Northwest Territories was very different, because a lot of the fire was actually going underground. West Kelowna was different.
Does Deryck, or anybody else, want to add into this? It's not my expertise.
Trevor, do you want to?
Director General, Government Operations Centre, Department of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
On preparations, at a macro level, there are a number of strategies in emergency management that Trevor can speak to as well. However, for us, the preparation for this season began last year. These have been the worst five years in emergency management in Canadian history.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Francis Scarpaleggia
Thank you. I have to stop you there, unfortunately.
We'll go to Ms. Collins. Maybe Ms. Collins will let Mr. Trehearne finish. I don't know. It's up to her. There's no pressure.
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to start with the minister.
We are in a climate emergency, and the Jasper fires highlight how this crisis is impacting everything that we hold dear.
I have formative memories of my time in Jasper, hiking and visiting friends who were working in tourism and hospitality there. I was in complete awe of the beauty and the power of that place.
These events are happening more frequently. They're going to get more severe. The area burned in 2023 was more than six times the historic average.
New Democrats have been calling for the establishment of a national firefighting force to deal with future wildfire emergencies. In my province of B.C., like in Alberta, we are dealing with multi-year droughts, which make wildfires even more likely.
We wrote to you calling for a $1-billion watershed security fund. These two policies could protect watersheds, prevent disasters and tackle wildfires. I'm curious why your government hasn't implemented them.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
First of all, you're absolutely right: We do need to do more. It's a matter of how we do it and making sure that it's the appropriate action that we take, because in every single year we have been dealing with an increased severity of wildfires and also other emergencies.
First and foremost, what we wanted to do.... How we manage emergencies across Canada is based on the fact that the majority of resources are managed through the provinces and territories. Then we, as a federal government, provide additional resources if the resources have been exhausted.
The first thing that we have done here is to add additional firefighters. We have trained about 1,000 firefighters, as well as training supervisors via the incident command system. First and foremost, we want to make sure that the additional resources can be utilized immediately.
Second, we are looking at options at the federal level of what we need to do, but we want to make sure that what we do actually complements the work that's going to be happening on the ground, and that work is ongoing.
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Minister, given the urgency and scale of the crisis that we face, there's kind of a wait-and-see attitude. When it comes to addressing wildfire emergencies, implementing a national firefighting force and protecting our watersheds, that is short-sighted.
However, I do want to ask you a question.
Over the past year, the residents of Fort Chipewyan have been raising the alarm. They still do not have a working dock or a way to safely escape the community in the case of a wildfire.
Today the nations of Athabasca Chipewyan, Mikisew and Fort Chipewyan Métis released a really shocking statement, stating that they were shocked to learn that your government concealed the existence of a federally contaminated site around the Transport Canada dock, known locally as the “big dock”.
It's used to hunt and to trap. Local children learn to swim there. It is incredibly shocking and appalling that the information that there was a contaminated site there from 2017 was hidden from this community.
I'm wondering if you can speak to that, and also speak to the fact that they need a way to escape if there's a wildfire.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
To address your first question, I just want to let you know that we're not waiting; we're actually working with the provinces to make sure that the resources are there.
To your other point that you—
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
To the other point you raised, one is that we work very closely with the other departments, especially Indigenous Services, on this. I'm not aware of the dock situation. Our team will take a look at it and see if our department has a role that we need to play, but we will work with them if we can get more information on this and get back to you.
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Well, just so you know, in the spring the community had been facing historically low water levels and there were three wildfires that happened within two kilometres of the airports. They have been asking your government to dredge the dock and to make sure there is an emergency egress there, but the government refused.
Now they have found out, from a third party, that the reason is that there is a contaminated site the community was unaware of and that the government did not disclose. This is appalling. It is, in my opinion, an example of environmental racism, and I hope the government will connect with the community and be held accountable. This is completely unacceptable.
Liberal
Harjit S. Sajjan Liberal Vancouver South, BC
I think Andrew has more information that he can provide on this.
Andrew Campbell Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
Yes.
Mr. Chair, I was just up in Fort Chipewyan and met with all three nations: the Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation, the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation and the Mikisew Cree First Nation. The minister was there with us. They did—
Senior Vice-President, Operations, Parks Canada Agency
They did raise the issue.
Liberal
Sophie Chatel Liberal Pontiac, QC
When there are many interruptions, I can't hear the interpreters properly.
Liberal
NDP
Laurel Collins NDP Victoria, BC
Maybe, Mr. Chair, just because I have only 30 seconds of my time left—